The present invention relates to a film cartridge support, and more particularly, to an x-ray film cartridge support for a bed-like stretcher used in the health care industry.
Various types of bed-like equipment are commonly used in hospitals and other health care facilities. One type of such equipment is referred to as a stretcher which is normally provided with wheels for ease of movement and used in a variety of situations. Such a stretcher is disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 4,691,393. The wheeled stretcher may be used in emergency room settings and in general hospital service for transporting patients from one location to another. Such a stretcher is of relatively heavy-duty construction and includes a base supported by a plurality of wheels. The base supports the stretcher frame to which a bed portion is attached. The stretcher is also normally provided with side rails which may be selectively raised or lowered. The rails securely hold the patient on the stretcher, but can also be moved out of the way to enable the patient to move or be moved from or onto the stretcher.
Particularly when used in the emergency room, the wheeled stretcher fulfills a variety of roles. For example, the stretcher may serve as a bed during a period of time when a patient is awaiting treatment. The stretcher can also be used to transport the patient. Frequently, the stretcher also serves as an examination table or even as a surgical table for treatment of the patient.
If properly equipped, the wheeled stretcher may serve as an x-ray table for taking x-rays of patients before, during, or after surgical operations. Typical stretchers which can serve as x-ray tables have an x-ray film cartridge support which is located beneath an x-ray transparent horizontal bed surface. Stretchers having x-ray film cartridge supports which are slidably movable beneath horizontal bed surfaces are taught in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,989,634; 4,193,148; and 4,651,364.
At times in medical practice, a patient requires x-rays of his upper body while he is sitting partially or completely upright. In these situations, in order to allow the patent to sit upright, the head end of the stretcher is raised to an inclined position relative to the foot end of the stretcher which is in a flat horizontal position. The problem which exists in the art is that when the head end of the stretcher is in such an inclined position, the slidably movable x-ray film cartridge supports of the aforementioned patents are useless at the head end of the stretcher because they will not remain in position during the taking of x-rays.
Thus, the need exists in the art for an x-ray film cartridge support which is easily installed at the head end of a stretcher and which remains stationary during the taking of x-rays when the head end is in an inclined position relative to the horizontal foot end of the stretcher. Also, the design of the x-ray film cartridge support must be such so as to enable an operator to x-ray the rquired portions of the patient. The x-ray film cartridge support must also be lightweight so that any operator can readily handle it.